Forbes falls short

IOWA CITY (BASN) — Steve Forbes was a former super featherweight champion and has fought some of the better fight but as he got older, he found himself fighting welterweights and super welterweights over the past few years.

Friday night on ESPN, he was facing yet another bigger fighter Jo Jo Dan, who was fighting in his backyard.Dan fought the opening round tentative, and seemed satisfy with countering the smaller Forbes.

But Forbes’ strategy over the first two rounds was a combination of jabbing his way in and using his right followed by retreating and hoping to trap the younger Dan. He adopted two separate tactics with the idea of seeing what would work.

In the third round, the best exchange featured Dan pounding a combination of body shots as he briefly trapped Forbes on the ropes. He continued his aggressive stance in the next round, attacking Forbes even though he nailed Dan with a solid left hook of his own to the body.

In the sixth round, an accidental head butt open a cut over Forbes’ left eye and the decision went to the scorecard.The judges all had 58-56 unanimous decision in favor of Dan in a decision that reflected what happened in the ring.

At the beginning of the fight, analyst Ted Atlas noted that Forbes’ tendency to be involved in head butts and in the sixth round, he charged Dan to throw combinations but his head knocked Dan’s head first before getting off his combination.

The blood gushed out of the cut and Forbes lost the technical decision.

At this point of the fight, Dan was the more effective fighter, landing more punches and a higher percentage.Forbes is a good fighter but at this stage of his career, he is not a heavy puncher and fighting in weight division where the lack of pop and slight erosion of his quickness hurts him.

Forbes is no longer a championship contender but a solid topten fighter who will be the stepping stone for other younger fighters.

As for Dan, he may yet make his move in the division as his only lost was to the undefeated SelcukAydin by a close decision in Aydin’s home country of Turkey.

OTHER BOUTS

In the main event, Shamone Alvarez challenged Antonin Decarie in Decarie’s hometown of Montreal.This was Decarie’s first opportunity to be main event and the southpaw Alvarez looked to be a tough opponent.

Alvarez began the fight as the aggressor as Decarie retreated and for the first minute, held the advantage with solid left whereas Decarie threw effective combinations over the next minute.

The first round was a round a in which both men had their moments.

In the second round, Decarie picked his spots for aggressive maneuvers as he forced Alvarez to retreat and his attack in the third round produced a slight abrasion over his left eye.

At the end of the fourth round, Decarie caught Alvarez with some solid combinations that wobbled Alvarez. He carried the attack in the fifth round and at the minute and half mark, Alvarez went down from a Decarie right.

Alvarez tried to fight back but, Decarie punctuated the round with a solid left hook to the body in the final 30 seconds . Decarie continued his success in the sixth round as his right hand continuously found a home for his right whereas Alvarez stayed in front of his opponent.

Alvarez moved in and out in the early rounds but by the sixth, he stood in front of Decarie as if he was mesmerized by Decarie’s right.In the seventh round, Alvarez moved inside and nailed Decarie with nice body shots in the opening moments.

As the round progressed, Alvarez slipped outside and Decarie made him pay with his right hand. During the eighth round, a cut opened up over left eye of Alvarez from a Decarie’s right and this was followed by another right that sent Alvarez down for a brief moment near the end of the round.

In the ninth round and trailing by wide margin, Alvarez attacked to gain some momentum but Decarie’s counter connected accurately as he simply picked Alvarez apart.

Alvarez picked up the pace in the final round and this was the closet since the early rounds. Decarie picked his spots to attack but for the most part, fought cautiously. Alvarez may have won the round in the closet round of the second half of the fight.

Decarie won the fight by unanimous decision by wide margin, and showed why he is a good prospect.Just like the first fight, the scorecard reflected the happenings in the ring.